There is increasing scientific evidence that climate change is caused by human-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere. The levels of CO2 have been rising in large part because of human intervention, and they continue to rise as carbon emissions greatly outpace the ability of vegetation to take up and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
There have been many proposals for solutions in the scientific literature to reduce the effects of climate change precipitated by these increased levels. Some are fantastic, like bringing 16 billion small reflecting mirrors into the stratosphere by space rockets to reflect sun light from coming to earth and thus reduce global warming, while others are more dramatic, such as having rockets inject SO2 into the atmosphere in order to reflect sunlight, though the ozone layer might be damaged by the SO2. Still another solution proposed is one where millions of artificial trees are installed in an open space in which sodium hydroxide is placed in artificial “leaf” structures to capture CO2 that is then stored deep under the ground. The storage of CO2 in deep geological porous rocks, kilometers deep into seafloor has proven to be instable. More significantly, CO2 can leak out into the atmosphere again, which is rather a serious concern. Additionally, research suggests that storing pressurized gas underground can cause earthquakes in the storage area. All of these solutions would cost billions of dollars and are most likely unworkable or have too much risk and/or collateral damage associated with them.
Some additional proposals center around using carbon-capture systems which chemically alter the carbon dioxide into a different compound, for example carbonate minerals. However, all of the proposed ways for accomplishing this involve expensive catalysts which themselves only operate effectively at pH or pressure levels which are unsuitable for mass conversion.
CO2 emissions are mainly produced by fossil fuel power generation plants and some heavy industries. 50% of the worldwide energy supply is provided by coal power plants, 40% by oil and approximately 25% by natural gas, all of which are pumping CO2 gas into the atmosphere through their exhaust. From 1990 to 2012 some 87% of the world's energy was supplied by fossil fuels.
The amount of CO2 in the air is comparatively small: only about 0.64 cubic inch in one 1 cubic foot of air. Thus the CO2 content of air is at 370 ppm, a ratio of 1:3000, but the energy consumed to produce this amount of CO2 is rather high: 0.27 BTU of fossil fuel. Some argue that by sequestering the amount of CO2 in a cubic foot of air we thereby allow the consumption elsewhere of the same amount of energy i.e. allowing 0.27 BTU to be combusted. However, it is insufficient to use this argument without attempting to find a solution to the real underlying problem: pollution caused by energy production and consumption.
There is a need for a solution which can solve both problems at the same time. In particular, current CO2 in the atmosphere needs to be sequestered while also producing less of it at the same time.